Taking the threadjack where it belongs - Haas brush thread

[Jackie_Cochran]

My main hope is that the number of synthetic fibers in their horsehair brushes is no more or is less than the number of synthetic fibers in the Hass Senior and Haas Junior brushes Those are the only ones with horsehair that I read had synthetic fibers in the Haas site. The reason given for those brushes was that the synthetic fibers added strength to give stiffness to the horsehair brushes and help protect the horsehair bristles from breaking down.

If these synthetic fibers help the Haas brushes be the wonderful brushes they are, I am all for it (at least the horses seem to be for it, and they are the important ones for this issue.) I just wish they included the percentage of the synthetic bristles in their descriptions, truth in advertising and all that (yes, I know, I’m an idealist.) It is not just the Haas brushes, other companies make horse/goat/pig bristle brushes, and I don’t see any mention of synthetic fibers in their descriptions either.

[Jackie_Cochran]

Almost two weeks after I got my Haas Shining Pack I got to try the new and improved Haas brushes on my lesson horse today.

He came in MUDDY everywhere the blanket did not cover. My riding teacher hosed off his legs but that left dried mud on his neck, ears and jaw bones. I looked at the mud, got my new Schimmel brush out, and attacked it. This did not bother MJ at all, I started on his neck with no reaction, then I cautiously approached his ears and jaw bones and all MJ did was tell me that I was missing spots. Normally MJ HATES stiff brushes with a passion and I never expected to be able to use the Schimmel on his head at all, mud or no mud. He even let me scrub a particularly stubborn mud clump with the Schimmel with no reactions.

Debbie took over with the Military and Cavaliere, then I used the Coat Gloss and Diva to get his back cleaner.

MJ approved of the Haas Shining Pack brushes, YEAH!!! Considering that he specialized in dirty looks and shifting around with the regular grooming brushes this is a great improvement. At no time grooming him did I have to move to avoid having my toes trod upon, he just happily went on eating his own special flat of the timothy hay.

Debbie had a few problems with the mud and gravel stuck under the bar of his navicular shoes. It took her just a little longer to get his hooves clean with the Joker hoof pick. There was one piece of gravel that had gotten deep on the side of one of his frogs, but the Joker hoof pick dealt with it fine and she got that rock out. After that it was smooth sailing.

Of course the ring was still a super sloppy mess from all the rain, sleet and snow they got last weekend. I just walked, and MJ was super cooperative today and he did his best turns on the hindquarters he had given me, in both directions. His backing up was good too. He eventually gave me an extension of his walk in spite of the footing being pretty bad, usually when the ring is like it was today I can’t get him to extend at all.

MJ just was not resistant today!

If you get one of the bay or chestnut packs I recommend also getting a Schimmel. That brush is super good with the caked on mud and I have never known a pasture horse never ending up with caked on mud. The Schimmel is so much better on caked on mud that any of the old type grooming tools I used, and it is quicker in getting that darn mud OFF the horse!

[Lunabear1988]

I have had a few Haas Brushes over the years but just added more. I just got the Schimmel yesterday. I love it. My horse is a hairy yak with kind of a dryer coat that just makes everything really stick to him. Then I have the Go for gold set. It’s a curry and then another black brush. Not sure which is considered but it’s a medium stiffness brush softer than the Schimmel so I use it after that one. Then I bought the Noir, which I’m using as a soft flicky brush. Then I follow up with my mini diva. He has been looking nice and shiny!

I have a grundy’s finest and then something else I can’t remember. They aren’t currently in my groom box but I will probably switch them out at some point when I need to do washing.

[Jackie_Cochran]

There is a young lady at the stable who has helped me groom my lesson horse when my teacher is BUSY. When grooming my lesson horse with the Military she was gushing about how much he liked it (she had groomed him before with regular brushes) and how the mare she rides would really like these brushes.

Since I now have the Eqclusive Shining pack I went through my “excess” Haas brushes and made up a pack of the “odder” Haas brushes.

I gave her my extra New Generation Curry comb. I lent her my extra Schimmel (for MUD!!!), the Damen Wurzelkardatsche synthetic “rice root” brush for the first steps of grooming with the brushes.

Then I told her to use the pretty stiff (about as stiff as the Military) Haas Amazone brush for the second brush, the Go4Gold brush as the third brush since it is softer, the Diamond Noir small horsehair brush as a finishing brush, and then my extra Diva, the Girly Girl pink one, to polish the coat.

I told the young lady I wanted a DETAILED report as to how the mare reacts to the Haas brushes and how well this particular sequence of these brushes work.

In other words I tried to replicate the bay horse pack since the horse she rides is a bay mare. We will see how it goes, but I see no reason why she could not get near equivalent results to the Dark Bay/Black Eqclusive pack.

My excuse for buying all these brushes not included in the Eqclusive packs is that my riding teacher has several lesson horses, and I think that the lesson horses should be able to enjoy the Haas brushes too. This way the excess brushes won’t just end up sitting there getting dusty and taking up space in my bedroom/tack room, and I can evaluate how good these “odder” brushes are.

[Lunabear1988]

I think I have the rice root brush coming from Riding Warehouse but it’s been on back order. But I will use it right before the go for gold brush

[Mountain_Trails]

@Lunabear1988

I think I have the rice root brush coming from Riding Warehouse but it’s been on back order. But I will use it right before the go for gold brush

I have the synthetic rice root brush on back order too from Riding Warehouse too! In purple. I also have a Cavaliere on back order (because I was curious about the raised border). I ordered them back in December and they keep getting pushed back on delivery. I’m hoping they don’t get pushed back again. I already have the Diamond Wurzel version of the rice root brush and it’s my go-to brush for when I first bring my dirty horse out of the corral. Then I go to the Parcour or Amazone next. But even though it is one of the cheaper brushes (being all synthetic) the rice root brush might just be the most versatile. I’m looking forward to using my softer brushes more in the summer time when her coat is shorter.

I totally did NOT need to buy a face brush. My mare loves any of the Haas brushes on her face, although I usually try to use one of the shorter/softer ones. But she even tolerates the rice root brush on her face if I’m trying to brush off sweat marks.

I LOVE my brushes! And am so happy I found some good stiffer brushes with a hand-strap. All the ones I can get locally have some sort of palmyra (sp?) type fibers that just break off after a while. Very disappointing. The Haas rice root brushes are sturdy and don’t loose their bristles. They fit my hands perfect too. You can never have too many good stiff brushes with hand straps, they are hard to find!

[Renn_aissance]

My horse has updated his previous review of the Schimmel to declare that it is the ONLY brush that he wants on his face at this time.

He does not want his Coat Gloss brush, he does not want his Diva. I mean “head thrown up and walking away from me” with those brushes. (He’s always spoken very good English.) He is embracing full Irish Yakkitude, and only the Schimmel will do. With the hair coat he’s working on, it’s probably the only one he can actually feel on his forehead.

I leave it to you whether to try this at home.

[Jackie_Cochran]

Just a thought on riding the horses after a grooming with the Haas brushes.

All through my 50+ years with horses only a really tiny fraction of the horses being groomed looked like they enjoyed it. They looked like they were staying still because they were taught that they HAD to stay still while being groomed even if the brush irritated them immensely.

With the Haas brushes this is no longer so. The horse comes out of the grooming relaxed, with no muscular contractions right under the skin, and moving somewhat more smoothly.

When you get up on your just groomed with Haas brushes horse, please realize that they will feel you aids SO MUCH better since they are happy and relaxed. A leg aid that previously got a grudging, plodding response may suddenly morph into an aid for a delightfully smooth rocket launch as the horse decides that YES, you want him to FLY.

Hand aids? Well nothing will help responsiveness to pounds of pressure on the horse’s mouth, the horse is not being given the freedom to be responsive. Even normal, non-dressage contact might get the horse to feel like you want them to, wait for it, FLY, fly as in airs above the ground. Lighten up and remember that your hands belong to the horse’s mouth!

The horse is relaxed, the relaxed horse can feel each aid so much better. Give your horse a chance, lighten up on your aids, lighten up on your contact, and instead of the horse thinking that you want him to imitate Pegasus he will move relaxed, alert, and responsive to the lightest of aids (once your horse realizes that a light aid is still an aid and still needs to be obeyed.)

A horse who is happy within his own skin is a much more sensitive ride, and riding him will be so much more fun once you lighten up enough to match his new level of happiness and responsiveness.

[cnd8]

I have read this thread over the months from time to time, and finally ordered my first Haas brush. Wasn’t thinking I’d be moved, by any means, but wanted to try it out. The Schimmel may be the best brush I’ve ever used. I was worried about how short the bristles are on the haas brushes. I thought they’d just glaze over the top, especially with a winter coat. OMG, this thing fits snug on the hand thanks to a perfect sized leather handle, and the bristles go deep down to skin level! I was so excited! This is a GOOD brush! I’m sold! Now what soft brush do I need to go with the Schimmel for my white guy? I am not a have-5-brushes-to-use-daily kind of girl. I usually use a hard and a soft. What soft should I pair up with the schimmel?

[Jackie_Cochran]

The directions from my Shining Pack say that for grey/white/“colored” horses the next brush after the Schimmel is the Lipizzaner, then the Coat Gloss and then the Diva (your horse probably has a deep desire for the Diva.)

This is what the directions said about the Lipizzaner–“Gentle yet effective cleaning, removing scruff, dander. Lipizzaner brush deep cleans from the root of the coat, therefore it is essential to us excessively.”

[cnd8]

I can’t seem to find a Lipizzaner in stock. I’ll keep looking.

[Jackie_Cochran]

Yeah, between this thread here on the forum, the Christmas demand and the after Christmas sales I am sure that the supply of the Haas brushes has been depleted.

The synthetic “rice root” Haas Damen Wurzelkardatsche brush is a little bit softer than the Schimmel, though probably a little bit stiffer than the Lipizzaner and may not clean as well as the Lipizzaner. I do remember it bringing up crud from the base of the coat (super sensitive skinned chestnut accepted it but did not like it), but I do not know if it would qualify as a softer brush for you.

Another Haas possibility is the Amazone brush. This brush did not make it into the Eqclusive color packs, but again it is softer than the Schimmel.

I know you said you did not want a lot of brushes. Warning, Haas brushes are addictive for both the horse and the person grooming the horse.

[cnd8]

Thanks for the info! I think I might be able to find that one in stock!

[Skip_s_Rider]

I have the Parcour, Lipizzaner, Grundy’s Finest, and Diva - ordered here from stiffest to softest. The Schimmel is stiffer than the Parcour. The Lipizzaner is still pretty stiff, in my opinion. Grundy’s Finest is a nice middle of the road - not too stiff, not too soft.

Oh, and my horse absolutely LOVES these brushes.

[Mountain_Trails]

I didn’t get the Schimmel because I had bad luck with (cheap brand) natural plant fiber brushes with bristles breaking off. But it’s definitely on my wish list now.

But I DID buy a bunch of different Haas brushes. I am using a synthetic rice root brush as my hard brush. As a softer brush, I really like the Amazone or Parcour. I would guess the Lipizzaner would be similar but I don’t own one. I do have a Cavaliere on order but it still hasn’t come into stock yet. So…I am thinking any of those firmer body brushes would be good as your second brush after the Schimmel.

I have a Diamond Gloss AND a coat gloss and although I like them, I am thinking they are going to be brushes for summer coats to sort of take off the dust. I don’t find them super effective on a winter coat. Of course winter is almost over…but I can’t imagine the slightly stiffer body brushes not also being effective in the summer. Really, the difference are subtle and I’m sure some of it is personal preference.

So yeah, I would probably go with maybe a Parcour, Lipizzaner or similar. The Parcour is both stiff and has a good bristle density and appears to have a good amount of real horse hair. I think it would almost double as a body brush and a finishing brush. The Amazone is similarly stiff but I think it has more synthetic bristles and less horsehair so it looks less dense. But I really love my Amazone!

I haven’t tried any with the raised border edges yet, so I can’t give personal experience on those…maybe when my Cavaliere finally comes home.

But yeah, if you’ve got a Shimmel and are a 2 brush kind of groomer (like me, honestly before I went wild on Haas) then I would go with a reasonably stiff body brush. Not a rice root since the Shimmel does that job, but one of the ones with horse hair that is a medium body brush and not mainly a finishing brush. Have fun!

[Mountain_Trails]

@Jackie_Cochran

I know you said you did not want a lot of brushes. Warning, Haas brushes are addictive for both the horse and the person grooming the horse.

This is so true! Before I sprung for Haas (after reading this thread for a long time) my main grooming tool was a metal shedding blade! It still has it’s place, but I’ve hardly used it since converting to Haas. I think it will mainly be for removing mud now. And maybe hair…I will see how the Haas curries do for shedding season.

My horse has always loved grooming, but I kind of feel guilty that all these years I was just running a metal curry over her and calling it good. Because she really seems to enjoy a good brushing. It’s our bonding time! I used to scratch her a lot with my fingers, but brushing is a lot cleaner on my hands.

One little tip I’ve found which makes a big difference if you are going for a clean looking horse (which as a trail rider isn’t huge to me, but it’s nice because my horse is black and shows all the dust) is to take a spray bottle of water and spritz your 2nd brush once in a while to pick up the dust. I actually starting doing this to stop static shocks to my horse, because I was accidentally shocking her during grooming and saddling (I added just a smidge of fabric softener to my spray water) but an added bonus I discovered is helps take the dust off the coat. I recommend people try it, it really works. I have a cleaner horse AND no shocking issues when I do that.

[cnd8]

I found an Amazone on ebay, so that will be the schimmel companion. Thanks guys!

[Mountain_Trails]

Okay, here is something I’ve been pondering for a while. If you’ve ever had an old horse brush, have you ever noticed how there are a lot of horse hairs in there from you brushing over the years and all the hair seems to be aligned with the bristles. I used to consider that as sort of a negative, like my brush is old and dirty and full of horse hair.

But now, after contemplating the mixes of horse hair and synthetic bristles that are made into the brush, maybe all that extra horse hair works at actually improving the effectiveness of the brush? Sort of like dust collectors? I know the hairs aren’t attached but they seem to want to align themselves with the bristles. Maybe they are a good thing?

I had some old brushes that I washed and was lamenting all the yucky old horse hair but now I’m thinking, that if you wash the brushes once in a while, those extra horse hairs are actually your friend and serve as extra dust collecting bristles. Am I crazy for thinking that? Any thoughts? I used to try to get them out, but you can never really get them all out anyway.

My new Haas brushes are too new to have that problem, but I have some brushes from like 20 years ago that would get pretty thick with horse hair, magically aligned with the existing bristles.

[Mountain_Trails]

Not sure the prices on eBay, but Riding Warehouse has the Amazone in stock also.

[Jackie_Cochran]

I have not tried this yet. Eqclusive has what they call a “brush for brushes”, which looks like a complicated slicker brush with longer wires, one side bent wires, the other side straight wires.

There is even a video of them using it to clean a brush. They say it can be used to clean all the Haas brushes, including the Diva sheepskin.

I just hope there are some left when I order my next Shine package for my riding teacher, who does not mind all these brushes I’m lending (really giving since I got my big pack) my lesson stable. Her super sensitive Arab gelding apparently does not mind the Haas brushes or the softer New Generation curry comb as much as regular grooming tools (she is using the Parcour, Lipizzaner and Cavaliere as brushes). This is a relief for her since her gelding can get sort of “expressive” when he is irritated and not happy with his life, especially with curry combs.

Right now I am using the Haas curry comb and the Haas Express hair removal brush (which is like a lint brush) to clean the brushes as I groom.

I am emphasizing to my riding teacher and the girl who helps me groom that the Haas brushes pick up a LOT of dust, some of it really fine dust (MUCH finer dust than I ever remember seeing cleaning a brush), while they are grooming, therefore they should be cleaned every few strokes to keep too much dust from accumulating within the brush.